WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Those working out at the Woodson YMCA facilities in the Wausau area were already prepared to mask up in common areas before the Governor’s order was issued on Thursday, forcing everyone to wear a mask at all times when in a gym setting.
“We were moving in that direction just to get across the point that we care about our members and do our very best to take precautions,” said Carrie Hutton, the Y’s director of communications and community relations. “But no, as of Saturday, [everyone] is asked to wear a mask while exercising. That part is slightly different from what we were asking.”
In an email to members that was sent on Wednesday, July 29th anyone visiting the Y was asked to mask up in common areas such as restrooms, lockers, and hallways. That was set to take effect on Saturday, August 3rd. Instead, the facility has chosen to follow the guidelines put forward by Governor Evers’ order that was issued one day later.
While that does include wearing a face covering while working out, there are some exceptions to the rule. Those who have underlying health conditions can skip the mask. Hutton says all they have to do is give verbal confirmation to a staff member, no questions asked.
“We are not asking people, we are respecting their privacy on those. If we see that they don’t have a mask, we will say ‘excuse me, did you need a mask?’ If they choose to tell us there is an underlying health concern and that they won’t be wearing on, we are going to respect that.”
In addition to new mask guidelines, the YMCA has also announced extended hours that will begin in September after Labor Day. Hutton says that goes along with their long-standing policy of providing more workout time during the fall and winter months as families break away from their summer routines.
Those extended hours will run from 5 AM to 8 PM Monday-Friday, 7 AM to 3 PM on Saturdays, and 10 AM to 2 PM on Sundays. Currently, the facility closes at 7 during the week and is closed on Sundays for cleaning.
There are no current plans to move away from the online appointment system that staff is using to control the number of people working out in an area at a given time. Hutton says in addition to crowd control it also would make contact tracing easy should it be required.
“It would allow us to track when that person was in our facility, how long they were there, and any other people that were in that space should they have to go back and track a case,” she said.
As it stands there has not been an incident that required contact tracing at the Y.
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